


Bash the Best Man

by summer_of_1985



Series: You are the fond object of my affection and my desire [10]
Category: Anne with an E (TV)
Genre: Anne Shirley/Gilbert Blythe Wedding, Doctor Gilbert Blythe, Engaged Gilbert Blythe/Anne Shirley, F/M, Gilbert Blythe/Anne Shirley in Love, Marriage Proposal, Matthew is at Anne's wedding, Newly weds, Pearl Necklace, Weddings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-16
Updated: 2020-04-16
Packaged: 2021-03-02 00:14:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,833
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23665957
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/summer_of_1985/pseuds/summer_of_1985
Summary: Gilbert and Anne's wedding in the surprisingly warm day in early September of 1907, the birds were chirping, the horses were neighing and the cows were mooing.Everything was ready in the gardens of Green Gables for Anne's wedding.
Relationships: Anne Shirley & Delphine Lacroix, Diana Barry & Anne Shirley, Gilbert Blythe & Sebastian "Bash" Lacroix, Gilbert Blythe/Anne Shirley
Series: You are the fond object of my affection and my desire [10]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1611820
Comments: 2
Kudos: 79





	Bash the Best Man

Gilbert and Anne's wedding in the surprisingly warm day in early September of 1907, the birds were chirping, the horses were neighing and the cows were mooing.

Everything was ready in the gardens of Green Gables for Anne's wedding. Everything was ready for the best wedding of the year. No, the century.

Well, except the people who would be attending. Especially the bride and groom themselves.

* * *

The bride was happily dreaming of her future husband and the life that they will be spending the rest of their lives together. Only for her glorious dream to be interrupted by someone jumping on her.

Anne opened her eyes and looked at whoever was laying on top of her - looking up at her was the sweet little girl Delphine Lacroix, her almost niece, and the flower girl for today.

Anne's bosom friend, and one of her kindred spirits, Diana Baynard, who looked at the pair who had started giggling on Anne's (soon-to-be) former bed. "I'm sorry, I couldn't keep her away," Diana apologised, as Anne was able to properly sit up in bed - and wrapped her arms around young Dellie.

"I want to spend some time, with my friends, before all the craziness happens," Diana knew that Anne was talking about Mrs Lynde barging in on their girl time before Anne had to get dressed.

* * *

The other half of the wedding party, the groom and his best man, had been awake since essentially the 'crack of dawn' as Gilbert worked on the vows he would be saying to Anne, and Bash writing the best man speech.

Gilbert knew that Bash was going to embarrass him in front of his (soon-to-be, official) family and his friends, but Gilbert couldn't have imagined picking anyone else to be his best man - maybe Moody or Charlie, but he trusted Bash more.

"How many times are you going to re-write that, Blythe?" Bash asked as he finished writing his best man speech.

"Until it's right," Gilbert said, running his fingers through his hair. His hair was already a mess (from sleeping, and the amount of stress he is currently holding - as his wedding was approaching by the second).

Bash rolled his eyes. "You moke," Bash swatted Gilbert around the back of his head - he heard his mother tut and mutter under her breath. "Anne loves you," a rosy blush flooded Gilbert's cheeks. "Whatever you say in those vows of yours, she will love. Because they came from you," Gilbert smiled, that's exactly what he needed to hear - granted he rather would have wanted to hear it from Anne, but he wouldn't see her until she walked up the aisle to him. Ready to spend the rest of their lives together.

* * *

By the time it was half-past 10, Gilbert had already sweated his way through one of his best shirts, and was currently working through his undershirt - Hazel has scrubbed it clean and left it to dry outside on the sunny September day, 3 years to the day that Anne accepted his proposal (well... he'd given her his mother's ring after the first - and only - Christmas she spent at the Queen's Academy, she told him that he could propose to her if he wanted).

* * *

_Their final few days before Gilbert headed back to Toronto. He had graduated from U of T, with a scholarship for his first year at Medical School, for his medical license and doctor's degree - making him a full-fledged Doctor. Anne was so happy and proud she tackled him to the ground!_

_That's a story for another day..._

_Gilbert had wandered over to Green Gables, a drawing by 4-year-old Dellie gently folded in his breast pocket, that she wanted 'Auntie Anne' to have._

_Anne was already out in the yard, trying to get Daisy the cow back into her pen - Davy was sat making mud pies (odd, considering the boy is now 13), laughing at Anne's misfortune (however he stopped once she gave him a hard glare, similar to the one she gave after he locked Dora in Mr Harrison's barn...)._

_Dora was calmly reading a novel that Anne let borrow. Jerry was trying to help Anne, as they both had patches of mud (Anne in one of her old school day dresses), pushed Daisy towards the barn._

_Gilbert jumped the gate into the yard, dropping the bouquet of Queen Anne's Lace, Sunflowers and Daisies - he'd gone to Charlottetown early that morning and collected them himself, his darling Anne deserved no less._

_With his help, they were able to get Daisy the cow back into her pen. It still confused Anne as to why and even how silly cow was able to get out. With a grateful nod to the pair, Jerry went to deal with the trampled mess that Daisy left behind._

_"Hello, Gil," Anne smiled, quickly pressing a kiss to his cheek, a soft smile embracing his face before he gently scrubbed away a stripe of mud from Anne's cheek._

_"Good morning, Anne-girl," Gilbert said, taking her hands in his, and pressing a firm kiss to her knuckles - exactly as he did when they first kissed. "I brought some flowers for you, slightly abandoned, but you needed help with Daisy," Gilbert continued, Dora came walking in quietly - silent as a mouse that precious girl - the bouquet in her hands._

_"Mr Blythe, you dropped something," she told him, holding the bouquet out to him. Anne's face lit up at the gorgeous sight before her, the flowers were beautiful, she knew he only chose Daucus Carota - point one, for its Latin name meaning Wild Carrot, and the second being the common name, Queen Anne's lace._

_No matter how much they told Dora to call him Gilbert, the polite and silent young lady still called him 'Mr Blythe'. "Thank you, Miss Keith," Gilbert bowed to her, took a simple daisy from the bunch and tucked it behind her ear. A sweet gesture that wasn't lost on either girl._

_She blushed and toddled away, leaving the couple alone._

_"Would you like to go for a stroll?" Gilbert offered, the flowers exchanging from his hands to hers._

_"I would love to, I'll just go and change, and put these decedent flowers into water," Anne pressed another kiss to his cheek and headed to the house._

* * *

_Anne and Gilbert strolled down Lover's Lane, past Barry's pond (Anne could faintly make out Diana on the other side with the blossoming Minnie May)._

_Gilbert smiled down at his sweetheart, remembering what she told him a few days ago, that if he was ready to propose, she would accept._

_"Anne-girl, there's a reason as to why I brought you here. You've been in my life for 7 years, and I've loved you for every one of them, every day, every hour, every second - you've held my heart in your hands since you smacked me with your slate, there's something I wanted to ask you before I have to go back to Toronto,"_

_Anne could see what was coming, gently easing her hands out of his, reaching behind her neck and taking off her necklace (which never came off) and slipped the jade ring off and into his hand._

_"I love you, my darling Anne," he got down on one knee, hearing the faint gasp of Anne's bosom friend Diana (it's exactly why he did this here, she was the reason they were together, smacking Gilbert around the face with her harsh words of her best friend's heartache). "After I've finished medical school. Will you marry me?"_

_Anne didn't say a word, which was surprising for the extremely animated lady. Her left hand outstretched, she gave her fingers a wiggle. Gilbert waited, as a roll of Anne's eyes saw her crouched on the ground in front of him, a smile on her face, and an answer on her lips._

_"Yes,"_

* * *

Now, 3 years later, both Anne and Gilbert were ready to tie the knot.

Gilbert arrived at Green Gables at half-past 11, half an hour before the wedding, as the guests they'd invited started to arrive. Mrs Lynde wanted to invite practically the whole of Avonlea - but both Gilbert and Anne didn't want that.

Diana as Anne's matron of honour. Bash as Gilbert's best man. Dellie as the flower girl. Moody, Davy and Fred Wright from Toronto (one of the friends Gilbert made at the University), were Gilbert's groomsmen. Jane, Dora and Philippa Gordon from Queen's were Anne's bridesmaids.

Philippa had arrived after Gilbert with the flowers, Anne's bouquet of Red Chrysanthemums, Forget-Me-Nots and Primroses (she's spent hours looking through her mother's book, in search of the perfect flowers for her wedding day), the men's Boutonnières, and the ladies Corsages, as well as some for the wedding party.

She handed the four boutonnières to the men (and a fifth to Matthew) and took the remaining from the box, leaving Anne's bouquet and the corsages - as Diana came rushing out.

"Where are the- Thanks, Phil!" She exclaiming taking the box and rushing back inside.

* * *

Anne was almost ready, the veil would be added last, Matthew gently tapped on Anne's door (it wasn't often he was ever in her room) he pushed it open, and the sight of his adoptive daughter - the young lady she's grown into, the little 13-year-old she was, sat on the platform waiting for him, it brought tears to his eyes. She'd be leaving home in the morning, much of Anne's belongings (and Gilbert's) still residing in their current homes - would need to be moved to Four Winds Point.

The piece of jewellery in his pocket weighed him down slightly, he walked over and pressed a fatherly kiss to her forehead. "What did that little 13-year-old Anne tell me? That she would never get married?" Matthew asked, turning her around so that she was looking in the mirror, at their reflection. "Look at you now, ready to start your new life with the boy from next door," by 'boy next door', he means a couple of fields away, as he spoke - he pulled a simple shell necklace out and fastened it around her neck. He took her thumb and made her open it, inside sat a gorgeous pearl.

Anne let out a gasp of utter surprise. "Matthew! This must-have cost a fortune!" She looked up at him, having heard many a tale from Marilla about how he spoils her too much (new fabric for her dresses, the charm for her bracelet)

"Caught it myself, when I was fishing, it got caught in my net," Matthew told her. The small and simple necklace meant even more that it had a second ago. Matthew easily could have tossed the shell back into the sea, but he kept it and made it into a necklace for her.

* * *

Gilbert was stood at the end of the aisle, his back to where Anne would be walking up to him (he could hear his father's voice telling him to never turn around until Anne was beside him).

Jane, Philippa and Dora walked down the aisle and stood on Anne's side of where they would be getting married

After the girls, was Diana, on the arm of Bash. They took their places.

He heard people cooing, as someone walked down the aisle, a tug on his jacket confirmed that Dellie had done her job of scattering the petals, looking cute as she went, and wanted her uncle's approval.

"Well done," he whispered, as the flower girl went and stood beside her dad.

Then he heard everyone get up, Anne was here.

* * *

Anne had heard that Gilbert was refusing to turn around and face her coming up the aisle, weeks before today. He even told her when they got engaged, his father had told him that when he gets married, to look ahead rather than behind. So that's what he did.

After Matthew's heart attack when Anne finished her year at Queen's (speeding through to get her teaching degree), she put her education on hold to help Matthew get better, and he handed over the majority of the reins to Jerry.

Gilbert was a wonderful, and helpful, beau during this time when she thought she was on the verge of losing her beloved Matthew. He sent letters on the regular, visited the weekends when he could, telling both her and Marilla that the split-second Matthew started to 'play up' or start acting funny - to send for him straight away.

But he made a full recovery, almost demanding that Anne go Redmond College over in Nova Scotia, which was further away from her loved Green Gables. She was the principal at Summerside High School during the three years Gilbert was at medical school.

As Anne reflected on the time that she spent with Gilbert during their courtship, and the small amount of time during their engagement - as Gilbert worked towards their future home in Glen St. Mary.

* * *

Before she knew it, she was stood at Gilbert's side - Matthew shaking his hand and gave Anne a hug and a kiss to her temple, exchanging her hand from his to Gilbert's.

It felt like a full circle in Anne's heart - Matthew was the first person to greet her in Avonlea and her first true kindred spirit, to the love of her life. He then went and stood next to Marilla, as Anne's proud adoptive parents

No words said.

* * *

"My darling Anne, my Anne with an E," Gilbert started, making Anne blush - it was exactly how he started the letters he wrote to her throughout the years. "You will never truly know how much I love you, I've been smitten with you from the moment you smacked your slate around my head - everyone knew it, Bash knew from the third day I met him, I'm so grateful that Diana knocked some sense into me. You have made me so happy, I can't wait to spend the rest of my life with you," Gilbert's vows brought tears to everyone's eyes.

"Gil," she smiled, taking one of her hands from his and rested it on his cheek (his hand follows her and rests over hers. "Even with my imagination, I never even imagined getting married, you surprised me, pulling on my braids. It took me years to realise that I wanted you a part of my life, thank heavens I did. I couldn't even begin to imagine my life without you in it. I love you, Gil. I can't wait to spend our life together,"

* * *

The first to speak at Gilbert and Anne's wedding was Matthew, in his role technically as Anne's father. He was a man of few words, but the ones he did say meant the world. "Anne may not be my daughter by blood, but she is in every other way. It has been an honour watching you grow up, I wouldn't trade you for the strongest boy on earth," Matthew said, taking his glass of whiskey in his hand. "You'll always be the little girl I picked up from the train station all those years ago," This made Anne smile, tears welling up in her eyes - remembering how insecure and hateful of herself she was. "I wish you both all the luck, to Anne and Gilbert," he toasted.

Their guests also toasted to the couple, as Anne flushed, Gilbert smiled down at her with all the love in his heart for her. Anne got out of her chair and wrapped her arms around Matthew. "I love you, Matthew," Anne said to him, pressing a kiss to his cheek.

Matthew gave her a forehead kiss and a hug - his way of saying that he loves her too.

* * *

Gilbert stood up, from his arm resting along the back of Anne's chair, as his hand rested on Anne's shoulder. He looked down what he had written for his speech, and decided not to follow it.

He spoke to their guests, thanking them for coming, and then looked down at his new wife. "I just want to say thank you to Anne. For agreeing to marry me, for agreeing to be with me in the first place,"

Anne smiled up at him, taking his hand in hers and kissing the back of it - like he always does with hers. "It's crazy to think that I met you over 10 years ago, I was a silly boy trying to get the attention of the cute, new girl," Gilbert said, getting a smile of his wife, and their school friends who easily remembered the moment. "To get her attention, I pulled one of her braids and smacked me with her slate. She still calls me slate-face after all these years!"

"Thank you for marrying me, Anne," Gilbert told her, swapping their holding hands - so that he was cradling hers, pressing a kiss to the back of it. "I love you, Anne," Gilbert kissed her forehead. "To, Anne," Gilbert gave a toast to her.

Their guests also toasted to Anne, as she reached up and took his face in her hands. "I love you too, Gil," she told him after they shared a sweet kiss.

* * *

"Now, I'm going to hand over to my best man, who is also my brother, Bash. I hope he doesn't embarrass me too much..." Gilbert said, reaching over, shaking Bash's hand and sitting down next to Anne.

Bash had a smirky smile on his face - one that he usually gets whenever it comes down to Anne and Gilbert. He spoke of when he met the small white boy on the steamer ship and his continuous teasing about the boy's friendship/relationship with Anne whenever he could - which was fairly often and is still happening.

"I heard about their courtship through a letter!" Bash laughed, as Gilbert remembered the letter he'd written to the man he called his best friend and his brother. "They're love letters now, aren't they, Blythe?" Bash jokes, making a blush rise upon Gilbert's cheeks - the love letters he'd sent to Anne the years he was attending U of T, then medical school.

"But, seriously. Blythe, I'm extremely happy for you. All those years spent pining over Anne," Gilbert decided this was the moment to hide his face in his wife's neck. "Here we are, your wedding to Anne!" Bash knew not to bring up Winifred, Anne will always be sensitive over Gilbert's former 'courtship' with Winnie (he'd set the record straight multiple times that they only had tea together a couple of times, he felt like an idiot for bringing Winnie to the fair, as well as how much he wanted to be with her then as he did now).

"This has been a long time coming," Bash said, raising his glass and looking at the pair. "Gilbert and Anne!" he cheered, everyone else cheered as well, young Dellie cheering as she climbed up onto uncle Gilbert's lap, wrapping her arms around his neck as auntie Anne (she'd called the red-head 'auntie Anne' since she could speak, but now it was 'official').

* * *

The last one to speak was Diana. Anne's bosom friend, matron of honour and ultimate godmother to her baby. Diana was the one person that Anne told everything to.

Diana was going to be the one person to spill half of those secrets.

"For years, Anne told me that she would never get married," Diana said, starting her speech, instantly wanting to curl up and hide away forever. "Anne, look where we are now. Your, wedding!" she said, as Anne curled up into Gilbert's side. The newly married man happily wrapped his arms around his wife, he had to suffer through Bash's best man speech, now it was Anne's turn.

"It took her years to figure out her feelings, for him. It wasn't until after the exams to get into Queen's did she realise!" Diana giggled, remembering Anne's look of surprise as she shot up from the floor, exclaiming that she was in love with Gilbert.

Gilbert let out a shocking laugh, looking down at Anne - he had known how he felt about her for a long time (probably even from day one, with that slate), he knew it would have been an uphill battle to win the affection of his darling Anne, but they both got the same end of the same stick - thinking the other didn't feel the same.

"The pair of you were the brightest of the entire class of 1899, and yet, you were both so stupid when it came to your feelings!" Diana laughed. "It took a one-sided screaming match to knock some sense into Gilbert, and off he ran to go see Anne before they started college," Diana now got shots in about Gilbert and not just Anne.

"Thank the Lord, you were able to figure it all out in the end!" Diana said, after throwing a few more jokes in at Anne's expense. "To Anne and Gilbert!" Diana cheers, everyone else does. Dellie was still curled up on Gilbert's lap slowly falling asleep - after a very long day, the responsibilities of being a flower girl took it out on her.

* * *

It had been a fair few hours into Gilbert and Anne's wedding reception, Dellie had fallen asleep on Bash - the man had made the right decision to take her home and get some rest after today.

_"Blythe," Bash said, resting his hand on his brother's shoulder. "I think it's best if Dellie and I head home," Bash said his thick Trinidadian accent that Gilbert easily understand._

_Gilbert nodded in understanding, running his hand over the back of Dellie's sleeping head - calling his new wife._

_Anne came to his side, as Bash explained to her that he was going to go, after a long day, they both needed the sleep (and at some point, so would Gilbert and Anne)._

* * *

After Bash and Dellie left, it wasn't long before Diana, Jerry and their baby were next to go. Anne had seen Diana starting to yawn, and suggested to her bosom friend that it might be time for the small family to head home.

_Diana and Anne were hugging tightly, as Gilbert and Jerry walked over - the latter holding their baby. The group of 4 spoke for a while, as Jerry handed the baby over to its godmother, and cooed at the dozing baby._

_Gilbert smiled at Anne, the way she looked holding Diana's precious baby - maybe one day she would look that beautiful holding a baby of their own._

* * *

The last people that Gilbert knew left were (well...) Anne and himself. He'd seen Anne yawning, and he knew that she would want to head home.

"Anne-girl, maybe it's time to go?" He says to her, as she leans heavier into his arms. She nods in understanding.

They say goodbye to their guests, Gilbert lifts her into his arms (bridal style) and carried her to the buggy - they would be staying at Green Gables until they went on their honeymoon tomorrow, and then a few nights when they get back before they move to Glen St. Mary.


End file.
